Cavalieri Image Gallery

If you haven't already done so, please enable JavaScript in your browser preferences.

COLLECTING LINA CAVALIERI POSTCARDS

1. Regal Cavalieri
2. Cavalieri asThaïs
3. Cavalieri outdoors
4. Dupont Cavalieri
5. Cavalieri with hair flowers
6. Cavalieri in fashion hat
7. Cavalieri in veil
8. Snowdrop Cavalieri
9. Queen of Diamonds
10. Real hair Cavalieri
11. Cavalieri hold-to-light
12. Cavalieri in motion

IMAGE GUIDE

1. There is no date on this regal looking Cavalieri postcard but it is pre-1907. Gold paint has been added to highlight her tiara, necklace and dress.

2. Cavalieri as Thaïs.

3. Early 20th century postcards of opera singers outdoors are very unusual. There are a small number of Cavalieri postcards in which she appears to be a tourist in Russia. Notice the fabulous couture.

4. This is one of several similar Aimé Dupont images in postcard form from a single photographic session.

5. Cavalieri was quite fond of pearl necklaces.

6. Cavalieri in a huge hat.

7. Cavalieri appears to be older here but it is a pre-1907 postcard.

8. A photograph of Cavalieri and a pencil drawing of a flower have been cleverly integrated to produce the effect of having the soprano "bloom" from the bud. The artist, unfortunately, is not identified but the word, schneeglöckchen [snowdrop], has been hand-written inside the bottom right of the border.

9. This is one of several examples of Cavalieri as a playing card. In this case, the Queen of Diamonds.

10. A rare and somewhat ghoulish example of a novelty item called a "real-hair" postcard. This is a portrait of Cavalieri with actual hair -- said to be her own -- applied to the postcard. This card comes in its own postcard box to prevent damage to the tresses during mailing. Is it possible that Cavalieri's salon-snipped hair was actually provided for this postcard?

11. This is the only transparency postcard I've ever seen of an opera star. The other significant note about this postcard is that it was mailed in August of 1900, four months before Cavalieri's grand opera debut. The unlit version tempts the viewer with a scantily clad Cavalieri holding a curtain in front of her. The lit version shows her in a fully colored gown. Keep your mouse over the link to watch the image change.

12. Cavalieri in motion! Keep your mouse over the link to watch the image change.

Hit Counter

There is no doubt that there was a greater variety of early postcards published of Lina Cavalieri than any other opera singer. She wins the prize for the most diversity in design as well. You can find her on nouveau postcards, fantasy postcards, greeting postcards, fashion postcards, real hair postcards, playing card postcards, money postcards, midget postcards, bookmark postcards, and if you're lucky, opera costume postcards! Lina Cavalieri was posing for the Reutlinger cameras before her operatic stage career began. Billed as "the most beautiful woman in the world," it was inevitable that Cavalieri's image would be a popular postcard subject. I suppose she had a healthy opinion of her looks because she was photographed from all sides and all angles.

Lina Cavalieri's Beauty Secrets

After her retirement from the stage, Cavalieri managed her cosmetic salons in Paris. She was undoubtedly asked many times to offer her beauty hints for publication. In 1914 she published My Secrets of Beauty, which offered "More than 1,000 Valuable Recipes for Preparations Used and Recommended by Mme. Cavalieri Herself." Earlier in 1911 Cavalieri contributed her beauty tips to the Femina magazine in Paris, which resulted in a lengthy and interesting testament to the time and thought she must have put into her own personal care. The goddess Hygeia would be pleased with Cavalieri's sensible recommendations of ample amounts of fruits, fresh air, exercise, and rest. Her bathing regimens, however, are questionable. Her bath water was mixed with table salt, glycerine, extract of violets, and aromatic vinegar that she would mix constantly in the water to ward off neuralgia or rheumatism. She would rub her body vigorously with a bath brush and lavender and then rinse in cold water to close her pores! Cavalieri's other beauty suggestions included massaging the nose frequently to keep it in shape, bathing the eyes in an eyecup of rose water to keep them brilliant, washing the face in the warmest water that can be tolerated, using warm compresses to prevent wrinkles and redness, washing the hair once a week, and sleeping with the head low to avoid developing a double chin. Cavalieri's most bizarre beauty concoction was her own cold cream mixture, which consisted of bee's wax, spermaceti, rose water, rose oil, and oil of almond, blended in a double boiler with a wooden spoon. Cavalieri would apply the cream to her entire body while sitting in front of a mirror where she could search, "without pity" for wrinkles, and if found she would massage the area for ten minutes. After the cream was absorbed into her pores, she would wipe off any excess grease. In 1911 when the best indoor lighting was provided by the sun, she would powder her body and then stand in front of a window with a hand mirror for a final inspection!